A Day Off
by PerditaAlottachocolate
Summary: After Nathalie and Gorilla refuse to spy on Adrien during his first date with Marinette, Gabriel has no choice but to do the job himself. Unexpectedly he runs into a petite blue-haired Chinese lady doing the exact same thing. Cue a bet between him and Tom and a shocking revelation on Adrien's part.


_Author's Note:_ _This is the last one shot for GAW this week. The last two prompts are chapters from "A_ _Reckoning Day"._

 _It can be considered a sequel to my_ _ML Secret Santa Exchange gift – "Clearing the Friend Zone"_ _, but I think it can also be read as a stand alone piece. Although I was told that first part was good, so I encourage you to read it as well when you have the time ;)_

 _This story is also an idea borrowed from my WIPs/idea folder. It was supposed to be a longer fic, but I've decided to use it here. My apologies if there are some shortcuts, but hopefully all will be clear._

* * *

 **Days of Gabriel Agreste, Day 5: "A Day Off"**

The cafe was small, but Gabriel managed to secure a table by the window. It made a great surveillance point of the bistro on the other side of the narrow street. He could observe freely while remaining hidden behind the huge reflective glass and a branchy ficus on the windowsill.

Adrien and his pigtailed admirer had just entered the premise and as far as he could see they were studying the menu. He regretted he hadn't brought binoculars, his short sight being a bit of a drawback on this spy mission.

Spy mission.

Gabriel shook his head in disdain. He decided to call it "backup mission". It sounded more helpful and less invasive. But not even this could make him feel less embarrassed that he ended up spending his day off sitting at the window and spying on his own son. Well, it wouldn't have come to this, if Nathalie and Gorilla hadn't refused to do that themselves. But when he demanded their presence, Nathalie shot him a disbelieving look and claimed that she wasn't getting paid enough for this on top of managing his _other hobby_ , while Gorilla just grunted his refusal as Adrien already declined his discreet escort on the boy's very first date. For a moment he considered akumatizing someone who could be his spy, but he had trouble convincing his own employees to stalk a couple of teens, let alone a total stranger with anger management issues.

A woman came into the cafe and ordered something at the counter, but Gabriel paid her no notice. He was still staring at this son's date in the bistro, when the waiter finally brought him his coffee.

'Ladybug. Of course,' Gabriel muttered looking at the pattern on the milk foam art on his latte.

'You can have my Chat Noir, if you like, Monsieur Agreste,' came an unexpected reply.

He raised his eyes from the cup to a woman standing at his table. She was the customer who entered just a moment ago. Gabriel was sure he had never seen her before, but she looked familiar. Her dark, almost blue hair reminded him of someone. 'I'm sorry, do we know each other?' he said standing up. While he never had a good memory for faces, it always paid off to keep his manners impeccable.

'Not yet,' she shot him with a warm smile. 'Sabine Cheng,' she extended a hand. 'Marinette's mother,' she added nodding in the direction of the bistro, where his son's equally blue-haired girlfriend was laughing at something Adrien said. _That's_ why she looked familiar.

'Oh.' Gabriel's face fell as he absentmindedly took her hand. He'd been caught.

Mme Cheng didn't wait for any sort of invitation, but smiled brilliantly at him as if he just said an extremely funny joke and took a seat opposite from him, but still with a good view to the bistro.

She took a sip of her black as Chat Noir's suit coffee. 'Are you here because you don't trust your son or my daughter?' she asked fighting off a smirk.

'Both?' Gabriel ventured. For two very different reasons, but that wasn't a thought he wanted to share.

'What do you have against Marinette, then?'

'Mme Cheng,' Gabriel rubbed the bridge of his nose, 'do you have any idea, how much fanmail Adrien receives? How often people ask him for an autograph, a selfie? We've had one or two more daring asks for his phone number, Facebook account or size of his underwear,' he shuddered at those last few inquiries. 'We've had troubles with Adrien's… _admirers_ before. In some cases I would even consider a word "stalker" more fitting.'

Sabine nodded compassionately, but offered no reply. Still Gabriel felt oddly at ease with how she could listen.

'I don't have any other way to determine if your daughter…' now he hesitated how to word his concern without being impolite, but the woman beat him to it.

'Isn't a gold digger?' Mme Cheng finished the sentence for him. She didn't even seem offended, more like amused when she tsked, 'and I haven't even told you you're her fashion idol and she wants to be a designer when she grows up.'

'Now that should dispel my concerns quite nicely,' Gabriel rolled his eyes, but his lips quirked in a little smile, letting Sabine know this was intended as a joke. Not everyone was understanding of his brand of sarcasm.

Mme Cheng laughed and he couldn't help but to join her. Her happy mood was clearly contagious.

'Sorry,' he said after a while, 'I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions that easily, but I've had some bad experiences.'

'That's okay, Monsieur Agreste. I'm here to check if Adrien is dating her for the pastries,' she winked at him.

'If they are as tasty as I've heard, it might be a justified suspicion,' he countered. 'Forgive me. I'm sure Marinette is a delightful young lady.'

'As I'm sure Adrien is a very nice boy. At least from what I've noticed when he visited,' she acknowledged his apology with a bright smile.

Sabine Cheng turned out to be quite a pleasant company. After the teenagers took off to the scheduled movie (which neither Gabriel nor his companion should have been aware of, as the itinerary for the evening wasn't shared with anyone), the designer offered to walk the woman home. He had no idea how he ended up on Dupain-Chengs' sofa, sipping green tea and nibbling on an eclair Marinette's father just brought from the bakery, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

Tom Dupain was not what Gabriel would have expected. Not that he had much material to form any sort of expectations. But the contrast between the petite Chinese and the huge baker was astounding. And the knowledge that this big, intimidating man was in fact as warm and cordial as her, was even more surprising.

'By the sound of it, the date turned out fine,' Tom chuckled when they've recounted what they had seen from their hideout at the cafe. 'Too bad I couldn't see it for myself, but someone had to stay and man the bakery.'

Gabriel snorted at that and the baker frowned at him, confused.

'Sorry,' the designer wiped a tear from his eye. 'I just imagined you going in an undercover mission and I couldn't help it.'

Sabine giggled lightly and Tom pouted, feigning offence. 'What's so funny?!'

'Well, you're not exactly stealthy, being so big,' Gabriel gestured to the baker's huge form.

The man scoffed at him, 'Hello pot, this is the kettle.'

'Excuse me?'

'Well, maybe you're not as… _well built_ as me, but you definitely stick out of the crowd, Gabriel,' Tom smirked at him. 'Now we know where Marinette's beanstalk got his height.'

'I can blend in, if I want to,' now it was the designer's turn to pout (just a little, it would be childish to really pout or get angry over something so small).

'I'm sure you can,' the baker's tone said the exact opposite. 'Care to test that theory on our kids' next date? Sabby can be the judge,' he offered. 'I'd go myself, but I don't want you to say I biased the results by being so big,' he finished with a wink.

The offer was tempting. Not only could Gabriel prove he wasn't an amateur stalker (after all he stalked the whole city when he needed to, though maybe that wasn't something he should advertise), but it would also provide a useful reason to spy on Adrien on his second date. A bet was a bet, no one could argue with that.

'Agreed,' he said, extending a hand, which Tom caught in a bone crushing shake.

* * *

And that's how Gabriel and Sabine got themselves on another "backup mission" at a restaurant opposite an arcade.

Everything went really smooth. Gabriel was bold enough to choose a table outside, with only a decorative fence and some evergreens as their cover. Close to take a good picture of the teenage couple, but far enough not to be easily spotted. The designer was sure it was safe - after all Adrien and Marinette were so absorbed with each other, they probably wouldn't even notice a UFO, should it land in the middle of the street.

That's where he was wrong.

What Gabriel hadn't taken into consideration, was that for a kind soul that he was, Tom Dupain still could play dirty. When the teens stepped from the depths of the arcade and into the blinding sun, Marinette's phone chirped. The girl fished it out of her purse and frowned as she read the message. Her eyes darted upwards and skidded over the buildings on the other side of the street until she found the restaurant where Sabine and Gabriel had been hiding. She locked eyes with him and turned pink, giving them a shy wave. Adrien followed her line of sight and blanched.

Marinette's mother smiled warmly at the duo and returned the wave, while Gabriel nodded stiffly. The girl seemed to regain her wits quicker than his son, as with one last wave she pulled him in the direction of nearby park and out of their sight.

Sabine chuckled seeing Gabriel's indignant scowl. It seemed to dissolve the tension and he almost joined her, when he recalled Adrien's stunned face.

'I bought you lunch. You should be on my side,' he grumbled a half-hearted complaint.

'Hmmm, should I consider it an attempt at bribery, Monsieur Agreste?' the woman pursed her lips. 'I should remain a neutral judge after all.'

'In that case may I point out, that this was definitely cheating,' Gabriel supplied, already plotting how to use this to his advantage.

'It was,' Sabine agreed, 'Tom can be very competitive, if he chooses to.' Her eyes twinkled with joy, as if she knew this might happen and was amused that it did.

The designer sent her a mischievous smirk, 'It that case,' he drawled. 'I demand a rematch.'

* * *

And thus begun a string of "backup missions" for Gabriel with Sabine as his constant companion and impartial judge. Gabriel tried every trick in his sleeve to remain unseen and observe another one of Adrien's dates from afar, while every time Tom found a way to reveal his presence to the two teens.

Their kids were becoming more and more confused with every encounter, up to a point when Adrien had clearly had enough. He rolled up his sleeves and with a determined look on his face and Marinette in tow, he marched up the street into the cozy cafe they had been occupying that day.

He bowed respectfully to Sabine and then turned to Gabriel. The intensity of his stare was impressive, and in other circumstances the designer would definitely appreciate it.

'Are you spying on us, Father?' Adrien demanded, not even trying to hide his irritation.

Gabriel carefully kept his face impassive, as he replied in an even tone. 'Who? Us?' he gestured between himself and Sabine.

'Yes, you,' the boy pointed an accusatory finger at him. 'You know what I'm talking about. We've seen you.'

'We're not spying on you, Adrien,' Gabriel said, silently thanking fate for his talent at poker faces. 'Don't be ridiculous.'

'Then what is Mme Cheng doing here?' the teen whispered angrily, pointing to the remains of their lunch and coffees at the table.

'Sabine?' Gabriel cast his companion a nervous look. She looked as dumbfounded as he felt, clearly afraid of saying something that might make things worse. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to tell their kids, that they _had been_ spying on them and because of a wager nonetheless. He racked his brain for a plausible excuse.

'She's a great friend,' he finally blurted out.

A beat of silence.

'Adrien?' he asked seeing his son's face going pale. He waved a hand in front of the unseeing green eyes, but there was no reaction.

'Adrien!' Marinette cried as she caught her boyfriend's limp body before it hit the ground.

'Oh my,' Sabine exclaimed rising from her seat. 'Is Adrien allright?'

Gabriel kneeled down beside the teens. Marinette cradled the boy in her arms. Adrien's eyes were closed. He was breathing in shallow breaths and murmuring something about friends.

What the hell did that mean?

* * *

 _AN: As always, please let me know what you think about this fic. Feedback is really important to me._

 _Many thanks to Remasawho brainstormed with me and beta read it so that your eyes wouldn't hurt too much. I strongly recommend her stories, not only those for GAW!_

 _Check out my other fics or visit me on perditaalottachocolate-blog . tumblr . com , if you're in tumblrhood._


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